OXACILLIN-RESISTANT AND QUINOLONE-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS IN SAO-PAULO, BRAZIL - A MULTICENTER MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY STUDY

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possibility of interhospital spread of m ultiresistant Staphylococcus aureus in Sao Paulo, Brazil. DESIGN: We e valuated 13 nosocomial S aureus strains selected because of resistance to oxacillin and ciprofloxacin. SETTING: The strains were collected b etween March 1991 and September 1991 from four different hospitals in Sao Paulo. Two were teaching hospitals, and two were private hospitals . PATIENTS: Each strain was isolated from a different patient. All pat ients were hospitalized when the strains were isolated. INTERVENTIONS: The strains were typed by restriction endonuclease analyses of plasmi d DNA (REAP) using EcoRI, HindIII, RsaI, and AluI and by extended anti biogram profile (34 drugs). RESULTS: AH strains had identical plasmid and antibiogram profile. They demonstrated the same plasmid pattern as previously described in one of the hospitals studied. CONCLUSIONS: Ou r results suggest the dissemination of a unique oxacillin- and quinolo ne-resistant strain of S aureus in several hospitals of Sao Paulo, Bra zil.